A Little Push
by The Punch Lord
Summary: Xelha has once again perplexed Kalas; leaving the youth to sulk and wonder as they journey on. Gibari, being the wise "father-figure" of the group, offers some good advice to our confused hero. rated T for language.


Kalas threw his head back in a scoff. "That kid has the hots for Mayfee," he chuckled, "he should totally tell her!"

Xelha frowned before she answered for the fleeing boy. "He didn't want to destroy her dreams Kalas," she reasoned.

Kalas turned to her, blinking skeptically. "Huh?" was the only intelligent thing that came out of his mouth.

Xelha only smiled knowingly as she stared at the door. "Nothing," she giggled mysteriously. "Let's go see that lady," Xelha suggested, remembered that the boy mentioned that she had returned. And with that in mind, Xelha left, leaving a baffled Kalas, and an amused and bemused Gibari and Lyude.

"Girls," Kalas muttered before he followed; a highly amused Gibari behind him while Lyude merely shook his head.

* * *

"You seem troubled by something," a voice stated, waking Kalas from his thoughts.

Kalas jumped and looked up to see the last person he wanted to see. _Oh no… _he groaned mentally. "Go away Gibari," he grumbled as he stomped around the fisherman that stood in his original path; glad that he didn't bump into him. But Gibari only smirked, he was never a man to be ignored. With ease, he walked alongside the moody boy, a broad grin on his features. "Ah come on Kalas, I'm just being a good adult and companion, ready to give you some advice for your troubles."

"I don't need your help," Kalas said gruffly as he sped up, but he was caught by Gibari and dragged back and was locked in place right under the might of Gibair's arm. "What's the rush for? We have time," Gibari sang cheerfully.

Kalas gritted his teeth as he growled; cursing under his breath. Indeed they did. Savyna, the lady that had helped them, said it was a two mile hike down to the Celestial Tree. Gibari merely chuckled.

Gibari at the time had noticed that all three of his youthful companions were in deep thoughts. Lyude kept shooting Savyna suspicious glances, while Xelha stared worriedly ahead, and Kalas simply stared down at the ground, in the very back of the group, a frown on his face as he muttered under his breath. Now, Gibari was not a man that loved boredom, but he didn't want to interrupt anyone's thought pattern, and he wasn't up to talking with Savyna yet, she seemed worse than Kalas. So Gibari settled with interrupting Kalas's thoughts; the boy was more fun than the other two, he was even more fun than humans' should be allowed to have.

"So anyway," Gibari started as he lumbered on at an agonizingly slow pace. Kalas gritted his teeth as he struggled out of the older man's grip. "You stink!" the youth spat as he struggled to get out of his hold.

"Don't worry, you'll get use to it," he said, waving it off.

"Now, is what Xelha said the thing you've been thinking about?" Gibari asked.

Kalas paused in his struggle before he quickly resumed. "No," he lied.

"You do know you're a horrible lier," Gibari stated in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Gee thanks," Kalas muttered as he resorted to biting Gibari's thick arm. That earned him a bonk on the head. "Ow!"

"Now Kalas, I know you had a family, that Folon guy made it obvious, stating that you had a brother and grandfather, I won't ask what happened, its not my business to ask—"

"Damn right!"

Gibari choked him. "Gyah!" Kalas grunted.

"But you probably never have felt any love for someone that's not your family, so I understand if you were confused about what Xelha was referring to. Now tell me Kalas, have you ever loved someone outside of your family," Gibari asked, letting the struggling boy go.

Kalas huffed and he stumbled back, glaring at the older man. "No," he seethed.

Gibari chuckled. "Sure, sure, whatever you say kid."

Kalas huffed, and walked on, intent on getting away from the playful man, but fate, as always, was not his friend. He heard Gibari follow close, and worse, he was lecturing. "Now Kalas, imagine that you love someone and that they had a strong belief in something that brought them hope and comfort. Now, if you bluntly told them that what they believed in was false, that would leave them in a broken state."

"And I care why?" Kalas scoffed.

Gibari's face went grim. "Because Kalas, telling someone that what they've believed in and held onto for a long time, shall leave them broken; and if they're broken, let me tell ya, that's going to hurt more than any of the hell we put up with on a daily bases."

Kalas stopped and stared at Gibari skeptically. "I don't see how that's possible."

"You'd be surprised," was all the fisherman said as he walked alongside Kalas, staring blankly ahead, recalling and incident that had happened in earlier life.

"I'll… keep that in mind," Kalas mumbled quietly before he turned away and walked quietly alongside Gibari; noting self-consciously that this was probably the first time any of them tolerated the others' presence.

* * *

"By the way, it think you have a good catch."

Kalas jumped, but remembered that he was walking alongside Gibari for the past 40 minutes. He cursed himself for forgetting.

"What are you blabbing about now?" Kalas scowled.

"Oh, I was referring to Xehla, she's a nice catch."

Kalas stopped, his face turning red. "What!"

"Oh please Kalas, I think it's obvious that you have some sort of fondness for her."

"I do not!" he snapped, unaware of a small blush on his cheeks.

"Uh huh, whatever you say," Gibari chuckled. He had seen this many times in his life.

"Really Gibari! Besides Meemai, she's the only person here I can tolerate!"

"Meemai's not a person though."

"I don't care!"

"So then, you have issues with everyone else?"

"Yes."

"What's wrong with Lyude?"

"The guy's of the Empire, and he's a wimp and weak, I think that convincing enough."

"Savyna?"

"I don't know anything about her, and she gives me no reason to trust her."

"Ok," Gibari stops, "how about me?"

Kalas stopped as well and looked up at the man. He stated simply, "You have no idea how deep my hatred runs for you."

Gibari threw his head back and laughed. "Oh ho ho ho! You're a riot kid!"

"I'm not trying to be funny!"

"I know, I know, I've dealt with many boys similar to you back at my village, you're a pretty mild case compared to some."

Kalas scowled.

"Why, even one of the boys have tried to break my nose."

"That's a brilliant idea."

"But I gave him a black eye before he could even ready his fist."

"…"

Gibari sighed as his laughter died down. "Look kid, I'm not trying to make your life harder, though it is fun, I'm simply pointing something precious out to you. Think about it, if you lose it, then you'll certainly regret it."

Kalas watched as the fisherman finally leave his side and speed up to catch up with the group ahead. He watched as the fisherman waltzed up alongside Savyna and forced her into a conversation. The woman did not look pleased about this.

_"Squeak, squeak!"_

Kalas blinked and looked down, spotting Meemai bouncing before him, looking up at him with his big round eyes. Kalas offered a small smile to the Greyhorn. "Hey Meemai, what's up?"

The Greyhorn squawked again, jumping up and down, flapping its fins eagerly.

"Are you coming?"

Kalas looked up to see Xelha standing, waiting for him, he noticed that the group was speeding up as well. "Yes," he called out quickly before he jogged up, Meemai bouncing at this heels. Xelha merely smiled and chuckled as she too sped up to catch up to the group.

Gibari glanced back, seeing Xelha and Kalas in the back, the boy was eying the girl with a frown, as if trying to figure something out. He shook his head. It was obvious to him that the boy had some sort of fondness to Xehla. How he always traveled close to her, how quick he was to be at her defense (most notable at Queen Corellia's throne when Geldoblame made note of her). He smiled and chuckled to himself; hopefully, he gave the kid a push in the right direction.


End file.
